New bike, some questions

Hey, just purchased an 82 Maxim XJ 650. The bike stars fine when choked and idles while the choke is still on, i can even ride it fine without the choke but as soon i try to let it idle without the choke it stutters and dies.
I figure its possibly either dirty carbs, bad valves, old gas that i need to dump out or i need to adjust the idle screws. Is there a way to adjust all 4 carbs at once? Let me know what you guys think.
Also how the heck do you remove the seat on these things, I looked for a about an hour last night and couldnt find any bolts or screws or a key lock holding it on. I must be blind. Thanks for any info.

 

You haven't flushed the gas yet? Get started ASAP! You ought to pull the carbs (they are all attached to each other) and clean them out. I'll lay odds that your idle problem is a low idle setting, tweak your idle screw (the large headed screw located between #2 and 3 carb bowls) for a satisfactory idle (950~1050 rpm).
The seat lever is on the left side and is swept from front to rear by hand when you turn the seat lock key. I don't remember which way the key turns, I haven't opened my seat in forever.

 

hey thanks for the info. I flushed all that old gas out and replaced it with fresh 91. i messed with the idle screw yet it still hasnt fixed anything. itll idle while choked but not too good and once you give it some gas it either bogs down or dies. I think it has to be something with the carbs, im gonna go ahead and pull em off and clean em. here is a video of what im talking about. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKbf_Ok_HUY

 

RickCoMatic has an excellent post on cleaning carbs follow all the steps with out skipping anything and I bet she runs like a champ.

 

AND while you're doing the carbs (do them right so you only have to do it once, please) BE SURE to check the rear brake shoes for delamination. Read the experiences of those who've had them fail: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15874.html You can't tell or predict without taking it apart and looking. Don't wind up on your butt.

 

+1 and welcome to the site.

 

Alright, cleaned the carbs and re synced em. threw it all back on and she rungs great. now its time to start tearing it all down. ha. thanks for all the info, that write up was great,

 

Thrashin302:

If you are going to do a restoration project; here's an important consideration
that you should know.

As you remove some hardware items; know what FASTENERS to KEEP and which to REPLACE.

Most of the OEM Cap Screws aren't high quality, hardened, fasteners.
When you successfully extract a soft-steel Cap from an Aluminum Part ... get rid of the Trash.

You can find some nice Stainless Steel Kits for Cases, Fittings and Carbs on Ebay.
Replace the junk Fasteners with something nice and don't spare the AntiSeize, Tape or Lock Tight during re-assembly.